Wrestling games are a somewhat console proposition. Back in the day, any teen-orientated games mag would just lob the latest wrestling game on the cover, knowing it always sells. However, not all wrestling games are bashers. Grey Dog’s Software’s is a highly PC Wrestling game, in that it’s about numbers. No terrain, but you can’t have everything. Yes, it’s the latest version of the wrestling management game, complete with a demo. The big change seems to be the addition of narratives to the matches, so you can set up storylines and similar. So John would like it. I had a quick crack now, and didn’t really get very far, progress curtailed by a slightly clumsy interface and not knowing anything about wrestling. Anyone played the older ones and have anything to share?

Well back when I was still watching wrestling (up to about 7 years ago) I’d been playing Extreme Warfare Revenge which was the more simplistic/grubby predecessor to TEW. When it changed to TEW it was for me what I guess a lot of folks found when SI Games started making Championship/Football Manager more detailed. The control you had was much greater but it didn’t seem worth the extra effort for a similar (if much more polished) output.

It was pretty good if you’re into that sort of thing but you were better sticking with one of the free/cheaper old-o-versions and just getting data patches in a lot of ways.

No idea what the state of the series is now, mind. The price tag possibly seems a bit steep on face value but, like the footy management games, it’s one of things you’ll find yourself sinking a worrying amount of time into if it hooks you.

Oddly playing this, I found myself thinking “You know, I’d totally be up for a more accessible, nastier Wrestling game”. You know – managing steroid uptake, demanding women wrestlers get another boob-job, planning how much coke I could take, etc. The logical collision between Championship Manager and Sensible’s long-lost Sex ‘n’ Drugs ‘n’ Rock ‘n’ Roll.

KG: Or perhaps you could be an agent managing a small group of individuals rather than en entire company. Y’know, trying to get your main guy taking enough steroids that he’s performing better than he should be without becoming a broken-down addict, getting one of your female ‘talents’ to start shagging a big name wrestler or the boss’ son to get herself a better contract (so she can pay for boob jobs so she can get into Playboy so she can pay for more boob jobs, natch) and that sort of thing.

I couldn’t get into the fantasy universe of TEW and it was far too much of a time sink. The last one i’d played had just moved from an on-the-fly feuding system to creating plot arcs in advance. The only problem was you had to create the segments of the plot arc and then fill them all up with the wrestlers to be used and argh, time, it is is precious.

I think if you could download a real wrestling roster database, pref. from a decade or so ago (actually i’m quite sure users themselves were creating databases for you to download) and had unlimited time TEW wld be magnificent.

I sunk a good period of time into TEW2005 with a friend, e-mailing save files back and forth. I recently tried to get invested in it again, and found the clunky interface a pretty big deal-breaker. No idea if they’ve updated it for this one, but I probably won’t plunk down the $35 to find out. It was a heck of a lot of fun to play against someone, though. Watching them book their promotion into the ground as you manage to make Bob Holly the most popular man in wrestling was a great thing.

TEW has always been massively overpriced for what it is. Solium Infernum took some bitching on here about the price, but TEW is even worse.

The way I described it once was “TEW is the best freeware ever released. Too bad you have to pay for it.”

I bought TEW 2005 when it came out, but it was SO difficult to have any actual FUN with it. The interface is from the dark ages. Asinine stuff like when you hit the X at the top right of the window, the game would bitch at you to exit PROPERLY. Well instead of coding that interception and bitching, why not just MAKE IT SO CLICKING THAT QUITS?

I also want to try the World of MMA game, but again, overpriced, abysmal interface etc…

The one thing that really bugged me (and I do believe he’s fixed this now but I’m not sure) was that I wanted to just advance time, see who ended up where, as champion etc… I had to download a utility and make sure the mouse was in the right place and set the program to send a button press every few seconds.

I was HIGHLY ADDICTED to a freeware wrestling business sim from the same developer, Extreme Warfare Revenge (link to en.wikipedia.org)

When he released one of his later TEW games as freeware, I ran out and downloaded it, but it just didn’t have the same magic. What was once simple–maintaining a feud, building up a wrestler’s popularity and your own ratings–was mired under layers of complexity.

Even worse, you could totally screw yourself over without realizing. For instance, I fired an Aztec-themed tag-team without realizing that they had a special trait called something like Backstage Hero (basically, they were old and respected and helped settle down behind-the-scenes arguments). From then on, every night I set up a show, I’d get a message telling me that I needed a Backstage Hero, and not having one was really hurting my show. I tried to hire another one, but there weren’t any besides the Aztec guys, and they were pissed at me for firing them.

I just wish it had some sort of assistant character, like a Sim City adviser, who could warn you if you’re about to make some incredibly stupid, undocumented move that will ruin your game.

Who knows, maybe the new ones do! Either way, if you don’t mind games that look like 1980s spreadsheets, Extreme Warfare Revenge is quite good, and you can download update packs to give it a modern, real world (WWE/TNA/etc) roster.

I keep wanting to buy this game but the interface is horrendous as has been pointed out above. The mechanics of the game seem great but I never play it for more than a few game weeks before I tire of all the clicks it takes to do something that could be done with a few check boxes on the main game screen.